“I get more work done.” This may be true, but work from home more than one to two days a week,  and you play career roulette. Simply put, you are not seen enough. Those opportunities to shine through sharing ideas, brainstorming, and problem-solving are lost. So, too, are precious relationship- and trust-building moments. Those social interactions with colleagues contribute to your performance.

The in-office experience of learning by osmosis cannot be underestimated when starting a new job. Nor the cultural interaction and engagement that all play a part, increasing your chances of success.

Or perhaps you need more training, mentoring, upskilling, and another six months on the job? You say all that, despite your manager putting you forward and believing in you. In the most perfect of times, we are rarely ready.

The beauty of this particular time is that employers are acutely aware of the training needs to upskill their employees. Managers know they need to be patient and supportive. Equally, they are looking to their employees to have the stamina, resilience, and application to make themselves “be ready.”

The gift of the pandemic is that we all got better at saying no. It was a long time coming, and our work environments and organizational culture are better for it. But boundaries are not static. They need constant review and readjustment per accordance with the shifts of the greater environment.

Your noes may be stopping you from learning opportunities, causing career stagnation. It might also retard team connection and collaboration and blocking the yeses coming through from your manager and peers.

You are doing your job, and that’s it; there is no “going the extra mile.” Originally, quiet quitting was a term used to protest China’s prominent culture of overworking. It has since morphed into Western workplace behavior.

COVID-19 taught us to stand up for our workplace rights. It was a long time coming and a valuable shake-up to the status quo. But what are the circumstances of your quiet quitting? Is it based on overwork and rights or simply belligerence in not wanting to extend yourself? If the mantra is, “I am not appreciated, so I won’t do more,” it is pretty much assured you won’t be appreciated.

For the most part, we don’t realize when we are career self-sabotaging. It parades as our savior, providing “sound advice” to protect us. But it is our inner voice, nurturing and feeding self-doubt and crushing self-confidence.

Originally published by www.fastcompany.com